Bryan who? X3: The Last Stand Review

First of all, the big question: did Brett Ratner ruin the X-Men?
Answer: no.

But, briefly, let me just say that there's not a whole lot to ruin there. These are not classic films, they're big, loud comic-book fun. None of the X-films has come close to having the resonance of a Spider-Man 2, but they've both been entertaining and X2 especially strong.
X3 definitely lacks the steady hand of Bryan Singer, and at times the actors seem lost without him. Early stretches of the film are stilted, and the world of the mutants, at school and at large is not as graceful as in X2. It's a bit like difference between Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire. With a better director, you just buy the world a bit more, that's all.

Also, certain scenes lose their emotional impact in the quick flow of the film. There is a lot to get to, granted, but couldn't we have spent more time with Jean and Scott and their moment at Alkalai Lake? Cyclops is dispatched with quickly, like he was in X2, and Rogue gets the same treatment. The love triangle between Kitty Pryde, Bobby Drake, and her never even gets off the ground, but at least it's not a point the film dwells on. We get just enough, and then we're off.

What Ratner does have in his corner is a fun script. Taking its story genesis from Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, X3 focuses on a potential 'cure' for the mutant gene. But where the film really excels is past the talking heads (which there are thankfully few of), and into its breathlessly paced battle scenes. This, finally, is what I thought an X-Men film should be six years ago when the first film came out. Balls-to-the-wall mutant madness. All-out battles with all our heroes using their respective powers to their full advantage. Even the adorable little Shadowcat gets to kick some ass.

What truly saves the early parts of the film is the wicked glee that Ian McKellan has with his Magneto. There are very few actors that are more fun to watch than Sir Ian. He makes consistently interesting choices, and all of his scenes have the impact that you wish the rest of the film would. It also helps that McKellan is not an actor that leans on his director to bring out his performances: his vision of the character is what carries the day.

This is certainly the X-film in which Wolverine steps forward from the pack (jockeying for that spin-off are we, Fox?). The films have always featured Logan heavily, but here he is their last, best hope when Jean goes bad. Not because he's ruthless, but because he loves her.
That said, Logan's way too cutesy in the beginning, I'll give Harry Knowles that much. But goddamn Harry, did they kick you out of a screening or something? They did a perfectly good job with the Dark Phoenix material, and you know it.

The filmmakers obviously have deep respect for the source material. They stay true to the spirit of Dark Phoenix, even if they have to change the nature of her powers to coincide with the film's more Earth-bound reality. I love the explanation that Jean's psychic powers are a mutation of her unconscious mind. I'll even go this far: I like that explanation more than the 'Phoenix Force' of the comics.

Another thing I enjoyed is the continuing narrative, not only with Jean but with the X-kids. Seeing their evolution from students to full fledged leather-clad X-Men was a trip, and I loved the showdown with Pyro and Iceman, even if the effects once Bobby went into his ice-body were cheesy. This film, for all its weaknesses, was a hell of a lot of fun.

X3:The Last Stand: B

New Sequart column

My latest 'Black Hole' column is up over at Sequart.com:

Adrian Tomine and the Infinite Sadness

Enjoy!

Also: we're going to see X:3 today. Did Ratner fuck up a great franchise and a classic comics storyline? Stay tuned...

LOST recap: Live Together, Die Alone

Now that we know that it's not just a 'snowglobe'...
Now that we know that you can get off the island...
Now that we no longer have 'the button' to deal with...
How does the show change?

Where do we go in season three? I've said it before, but it bears repeating: imagine the show without Dharma (Namaste and good luck, as Kelvin says); without Desmond, without the button, without the hatch, without Henry Gale.
And remember that these things didn't exist a year ago.
But they did in Season Two, and thank God for them. Because of them the season was deeper and richer than Season One, full of twists and turns. Everything, and everybody, was up for grabs.

Now imagine the show without Michael and Walt.When the electromagnetic pulse blows at the end of the episode, Michael looks like the wrath of God has come down upon him. His weary confession in the woods, his admission that he would have killed Libby even if he didn't have to. Michael's season was one of desperation and irrationality. And what does life off the island hold for him? How do you move on from that? What do you tell your boy, after all you've done to get him back. How can you ever look him in the eye knowing you murdered for him?
And that horrible look of regret he flashes Jack and the gang as he drives away. Notice that after that look, Michael never looks back. But Walt does.

On the other hand, when the pulse hits Henry, he looks straight into it, and he is pissed. Henry clearly holds a powerful position among the Others, even if he's not the 'Him' that he spoke of in the hatch.
I haven't read too much into the map that we see Kelvin painting on the blast doors, but I do remember one thing: it mentions that Alvar Hanso has a son on the island. Henry has to be that son. And maybe he's leading a rogue group of scientists who are rebelling against his father's work. Maybe they really are the good guys.

And will we be following Penny as she tracks down Desmond, with the Hanso Foundation fighting her every step of the way? Will we again be leaving the island for the regular narrative, not just flashbacks?
(How many people thought they'd just gone to commercial when you saw that frozen wasteland pop onto screen?)
Will this be good or bad for the show? Has some of the mystery been taken away?

Enough questions. Let's deal with what we saw.
Jack Bender was back in the director's chair for this one, and he's good. He's real good. So is Henry Ian Cusick as Desmond. Schmaltzy 'I'm winning this race for love' moments aside, the flashbacks worked and were just as entertaining as things that happened on the island.
What's with that bird, by the way? And why did it say 'Hurley'? And that 'Colussus of Homer Simpson'? Da fug?
Anyway: LOST is all about guilt (that's why I was so quick to jump on the Purgatory bandwagon, a spot I begrudgingly relinquish after this one), and it was the overriding theme in this episode again.
Michael's guilt of course. Desmond's guilt, for prison, for Pen, and finally for Kelvin. John's guilt for Boone.
But for John and Desmond there was a bright shining moment of connection, of purpose. That was maybe the best moment of this episode: That radiant beam of light uniting two men and giving them the strength to go on (by the way, I'm not going to overburden you with this: but Desmond's moment with the gun and the bottle was his Gethsemane, and there was a ton of Jesus symbolism revolving around him in this one.)

There was a lot of cheesy sci-fi fun here as well, especially Kate and Sawyer twitching after being hit with the darts. It's to Bender's credit that the scene doesn't come off as goofy as Pippin and the palantir in Return of the King. Oh, and speaking of the world of Tolkien, what a great Two Towers cliffhanger: Mister Frodo's still alive, but he's in the hands of the enemy.
Or, if you prefer, Luke, Han, and the princess all just got put into Carbon Freeze.
Is it September yet?

LOST Episode 2:23, Live Together; Die Alone: A

New Comic Reviews:52, Captain America, All-Star Batman

52 #2

Marvel's big summer event, Civil War may have deep allegorical signifigance and intrigue, but look:52 has lesbians!

It's also having fun with itself. It's not the boatload of pomposity that I'd feared going in. It knows a few things about its characters: The Question has to be mysterious, Booster Gold is an ass, and Rene Montoya likes the booze ("I've got a new job, it's called being a drunk.")

I like the stuff towards the end involving the Kryptonian Super-Religion. Superman as DC's Jesus hasn't been fully explored, not in this direct a fashion anyway. I don't remember ever seeing any image this blatantly Catholic in a Superman comic before. This has to be Grant Morrison's doing. No way Geoff Johns came up with that (if he did, bravo Geoff, there's hope for you yet).
Next time in 52, Black Adam rips off more faces, and Power Girl has breasts.
52 #2: B+


CAPTAIN AMERICA #18

I always liked the Red Skull. He's always been one of my favorite Marvel villains. So when Ed Brubaker killed him in the first issue of his Captain America run, I didn't fret. He's just too good to stay dead.And there he is...kinda. I'm not sold yet on the Red Skull in General Lukin's brain thing yet. I need to spend a little more time with it. But I trust Brubaker, I've loved his run on this book.

Captain America right now lives and dies on Steve Epting's art. He has an ultra-realistic style that works well for a meat and potatoes hero like ol' Cap. Since there's something so basic about what Captain America stands for, it only makes sense to have his world portrayed in the same no frills manner.

That said, the style doesn't always make for an exciting comic. Especially in the fights. When the art seems a bit rushed, it can lead to boring images like this:
But at his stylistic peak, Epting is capable of some truly sublime moments. I love this image,and I love this bad guy, even though I've not been reading Cap enough lately to know who he is. I wouldn't fuck with him, that's all I know. Or his girlfriend.

The main plot, though, with Cap teaming up with British C-list superheroes is more than a bit boring. Maybe it's that I don't know who he's fighting alongside, or their history together that is alluded to in conversation. Maybe it's because the big reveal, The Nazi Supermen at the end of the book, feels like nothing new. But, for any reason, I just didn't fully connect with this issue. It was pretty at times, but never exciting. Just ok.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #18: C+


ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #4

OK:

Why is Vicki Vale dying, why can't Superman fly, why is Batman such a douche bag to Dick Grayson, and why isn't Frank Miller even trying to make a good book here?

It just keeps getting worse, I swear to God.
On the one hand, Miller clearly wants to do a throwback book: Vicki Vale collapsing into Alfred's arms with a damsel-in-distress sigh, a Golden Age Superman who can only 'leap tall buildings in a single bound', and a murderous perverted Batman.
But then why is Robin the only character who seems to be from a time past the 1950's? He calls things queer, he gives Batman lip, he reeks of Generation-Z.
Is this deliberate?
Is Miller, since he's never written the young Grayson Robin before, having fun with the idea of one of today's back-talking wise asses thawing the heart of the grizzled, gun toting, Golden Age Dark Knight?
Is he pointing out how old-fashioned these iconics figures are?
Or has he just lost it?
And don't get me started the ridiculous six-page fold-out reveal of the Batcave. It's not effective, it's numbing; and not all that impressively rendered by Jim Lee.

I am done done done with this damn book.

ALL-STAR BATMAN & ROBIN #4: D-

New Comic Reviews:Moon Knight & Super-Skrull

MOON KNIGHT #2

Somewhere, William Gaines is sitting at the right hand of the Lord, smoking a fat cigar and loving the hell out of Moon Knight #2. They never did let old Bill get away with the whole ripping off the bad guy's face thing.
But here we are, sixty years on, in a mainstream comic with the words 'PARENTAL ADVISORY' camouflaged into the bar code, and yup, old Moonie just ripped off that dude's face. Why did he do this? Well, we're led to believe Moon Knight's insane. But beyond that, I just think Moon Knight's got a hack writer working for him. Exactly the kind that E.C. employed all those years ago.

It's a fine line to travel when you're doing the whole 'hard-boiled' thing. It's all too easy to veer off into unknowing self-parody.
Example: "Blame it on the passing years. Blame it on him. Blame it on our hatred. The hatred born from slaughter. Slaughter born from friendship. Friendship born from recognition. Recognition of a kindred soul. Souls hating each other. Hating as you can hate only one thing. The reflection in the mirror."

Ugh. That just makes me want to yurk (how the fuck is slaughter born from friendship?), and the blood dripping from every goddamn panel in this book does the same. Finch's art still impresses, on a basic, visceral level, but the detailed beauty of it is deadened by constant closeups of blood drenched eyeballs and cut sinew. Also, the layouts are starting to bug: every once in awhile, we could use some basic eight-square panel pages, thank you. Slow that camera down, Scorsese, ok?
I kind of like this guy, though. He seems like he stepped into the wrong comic, like Bill Murray in Wild Things or Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean. An oddball you can't take your eyes off of, but has nothing to do with the plot-not really. Just some actor with his own agenda.
Again: I know nothing of the world of Moon Knight previous to this, so he may be an old character. But either way, he's the only thing that gets close to being interesting about Moon Knight 2, an ugly, poorly written book.

MOON KNIGHT #2: D


ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL #2

Super-Skrull, on the other hand, is looking up. The art is still inconsistent. At times, Greg Titus manages a great sense of atmosphere, either cartoony or dangerous:Other times, he seems to have missed the boat entirely, and it's all ugly, confusing lines that blend one into another. This impedes not only the flow of reading, but the ability to follow the story. And the story ain't bad.
It may not take a rocket surgeon to figure out that little R'Kin is Super-Skrull's long lost son, but until that big reveal, there's a lot of whizz-bang action to keep us satisfied. And I love how Javi's dealing with R'Kin's growing mixture of disgust and awe towards Super-Skrull who, while certainly not a hero, is working out of a moral duty to first his planet, and now his son.
Against this Annihilation Wave, it may not be heroes who will carry the day. Sometimes you have to be willing to do what the other guy won't. Like setting your enemy on fire after he's given you the information you requested of him. 'Flame On', indeed.
This is a fun book. It will undoubtedly be in the 50-cent bin in a few months, but it'll be the best 50 cents you've ever spent.

ANNIHILATION: SUPER-SKRULL #2: B+

LOST recap: Three Minutes

Where do we go from here? Now that so many character's dynamics have changed forever, what can keep us with them?


How do we still sympathize with Michael, after he's killed two people for nebulous reasons?
Notice that Miss Clue never told him to kill anybody, but she did say to bring four back (are they the good people or the bad ones?) Mike created his own situation, he dug his own grave, just as he dug Ana-Lucia's later in this episode.
I also like the symbolism of Michael being unable to clean up the blood on the floor (out, damn spot!); while Eko did it with ease. Michael's new to this killing thing, Eko is not. But he has made peace with his past, he can absolve himself and others. Michael, on the other hand, keeps painting himself into his own blood-stained corner.


How do we still believe in Charlie, after he's beaten Sun and scared the camp half to death for petty revenge (his own and Sawyer's)?
Well, we start by getting clean forever, don't we Charlie? One day at a time brother, chuck those things as far as you can.
The fetch scene with Vincent though-that was hilarious.
But Charlie's written likeable only half the time: what's with his little bitch fit to Eko? But, alternately, Eko's really taking this whole pushing the button thing to heart. I guess dreams of your dead priest brother will do that to a fella.

So: how do we stay with our characters, after so many of them have darkened?BOAT!

So: it's The Others, right? But that's too much like last year. Perhaps it's the Hanso/Dharma/whoever folks. Or maybe it's fucking Desmond. I dunno. What I do know is we've got two hours of Season Two left, and a hell of a lot more questions raised than answered. But that's the way I like it.
We'll find out who's on the boat in a week, we'll find out a lot according to ABC. This is the twentieth time we've been told the next show 'changes everything'. I feel a little more likely to believe them now.

The Others seem startled, even scared, of Walt's abilities. Is Walt even aware of them? Is it a sort of remote viewing thing he does, perhaps in his sleep? Something very important about Miss Clue's words to Michael: "For someone who wants his son back so badly, you don't seem to know much about him." Those are the exact words of the lawyer in Michael's flashback earlier this season. Coincidence? Plain truth, since half of Michael's desperation is built of the guilt he feel for not being there for Walt as he grew up? Or is this meant to throw all of the flashbacks into doubt? Look for more strange flashbacks in Season Three. They are not all they seem.

Beyond all of these questions, was this a good episode?
Well, yes and no. It was fun, with its cheesy Others camp (Dad! They're pretending!), and 'Planet of the Apes' homage (Zeke's takedown of Michael).

It was moving, with Hurley's simple: "They're DEAD."
Even Sawyer and Jack seemed to have a genuine moment, before Sawyer charged gleefully out to kill Zeke. Sawyer is a con man, yes, but he doesn't deal well with death. I think this will shake him to the core. This many finally be what links him and Jack.

But the money scene, Michael and Walt's reunion, was flat. A lot of this episode seemed a bit too by-the-numbers. Something to move the story along just far enough to keep us tuned in for the big finale (which does look good. Real good.) Nice to see ya, Walt, gee you look like you've grown two years in these 20 days. Oh, I'm kidding.

This was a stay-tuned episode, and it did well enough as that: same Bat-time, same Bat-channel? I'm there for sure.
LOST Episode 2:22; Three Minutes: B-

New Comic Reviews:52 & Super Skrull

52 #1
"Booster Gold, Ladies and Gentlemen! He's from the future! How cool is that?"
Well, actually, surprisingly cool. I like Booster Gold, his pomposity, his grandeur, but mostly the fact that he's an E True Hollywood Story waiting to happen (sorry, I've been reading Godland). If we didn't know that Booster is a genuine hero when the chips are down, all this grand show would be unforgiveable. But we do know that, so we cut him some slack.

I've never been sold on the fact that DC can pull off 52. Monthly is hard enough to sustain fan interest and as we saw last year over in the Spidey books at Marvel, 12 issues is a long story arc when it's done badly: so 52 straight weeks of story?
Well, I'm still not convinced about the long haul, but they've started well here. Issue 1, while not perfect was fun.
I'm not sure if the split page storytelling with Ralph Dibny, Rene Montoya, and Steel is going to work. It was fairly tedious in this issue, especially the Steel fragments. Luckily, they dropped it after the first few pages. Still, it could become a crutch as they go on.
I do like where the Montoya story arc is going, and this is the first time I've seen the character. But, again, 52 weeks of redemption is a lot of heartache to handle. Can we make her an honest to god superhero, like, now?


Can I stop for a moment and just say that Black Adam is a bad-ass? Did you see what he did to Psycho Pirate in Infinite Crisis? Bad-ass.
I hope they do him justice here, he's got great anti-hero possibilities.

I also like the twist towards the end, with Mr. From-the-future-isn't-that-cool totally freaking out at the absence of the DC Holy Trinity. I think we're figuring out that IC re-arranged not only DC's past, but its future as well. And what is Booster without his foreknowledge? I guess you'll have to stay tuned, won't you?

Over in Gotham, Rene goes to sleep one off but is distracted by some Dick Tracy reject stamping his symbol over the Bat signal. Somebody tell Mr. Eko! Take me to the question mark, Locke!

Anyway, one last thing: I love the ultra-dramatic, 'Next time in 52':Which tells us nothing at all, of course, but is a blast.
Kind of like the whole issue.

52 #1: B

ANNIHILATION: SUPER SKRULL #1

This book is a few weeks old, but I missed it and had meant to pick it up, because I am a great admirer of Javier Grillo-Maxuach.
For those of you who don't know Javi's work, he wrote some of the best episodes in LOST's brief history, including All the Best Cowboys..., Collision, and ...In Translation.
He's really good at the kind of redemptive stories that are the cornerstone of the show, and he jumped full steam into comics last year with the fun-for-all Middleman. So how does Javi fare when set loose in the Marvel Universe?

Um, well...uh...

Ok, first of all, I admit I don't know anything at all about what this 'Annihilation' cross-over is all about, all I've noticed about it is bitchin' covers and god-awful interior art. Unfortunately, that's a pattern that continues here.
Greg Titus' layouts are confusing and his faces contorted when they don't need to be and not contorted when they should be!
It's the kind of Marvel Western-Anime hybrid style that kept me from getting back into comics for years. One of the few people any good with this style is Chris Bachalo over at Uncanny X-Men. But do you see me reviewing Uncanny?
Nope, cuz I ain't reading it.

There are some vintage Javi momets shining through:

"...you so much as look at me the wrong way and the last thing you ever see will be your spinal cord in my clutched fist--do we understand each other?"

And I like the plot, with Super-Skrull, by all rights one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel Universe, considered a joke by his people for his inability to beat Reed Richards and his Fantastic Four. And the fact that Super-Skrull must ultimately team up with Reed to save his son (Son? Whaaaa?). There's a lot to like here, but the difficult-to-follow art is derailing a potentially strong story.

ANNIHILATION: SUPER SKRULL #1: B-